


Your trace in the Universe

by Dallas_Grayson



Category: Rick and Morty
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Anal Sex, Anxiety Attacks, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Jealoussy guys, Kissing, Loneliness, Love Confessions, M/M, Party, References to Drugs, Rick and Morty not related, RickxUnity mention, Underage Drinking, Underage Drug Use, Underage Sex, highschool!au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2020-03-26
Packaged: 2020-11-08 22:29:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20843060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dallas_Grayson/pseuds/Dallas_Grayson
Summary: An image, a sound, a memory that makes you see what happens, that nothing is the same anymore. That something changed.Burning bodies, whispers, intense pain in a sea of feels, fierce with oneself ... bursting as a star on the universe.[Or how everything goes wrong and two morons finally talk]





	1. First trace

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: The characters do not belong to me, they are the intellectual property of Justin Roiland, Dan Harmon and Adult Swim. They are used without profit.
> 
> The plot of the story, however, is entirely mine.

_"Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.”_

_–Ralph Waldo Emerson_

~ * ~

The room where he was hiding had little light and an open window that let the cold in. It was fall in the city, although everyone commented as it seemed that winter would come earlier, for at night and dawn, icy breezes ran hard, beating and cooling in their wake.

  
Or maybe it was just him; just him and his imagination. The shadow of his loneliness. 

  
Embracing, he rubbed his arms as he sat on the small bed in the room, seeking relief from the cold and a refuge from the sea of strangers who drank and danced down the stairs on the first floor.

  
Cold. A cold that chilled his bones fell on him like waves. And the fire suddenly; just as it felt freezing, a flame in the bottom of his stomach burned, pushing from inside, freaking out his body with a cold sweat.

  
Trembling, cold, burning, unfocused, overwhelmed, in a sea of people and yet, alone. Morty Smith himself, the loser, the unknown and unpopular Morty.

  
While he locked himself in that lonely and dusty room, where he struggled to stay in one piece, not to succumb to the suffocating sensation of drowning, to the chilling wave of memories that made him dizzy with his comings and goings, or to the lump in his throat, down Rick's party seemed to rage and cheer up every second.

  
"Rick ..." came to his mind a second before uttering it.

  
Turning around him as he struggled to control the incipient sensations of his body, he occupied his mind in noticing the small details of that room which, despite long knowing his occupant, had hardly visited. It was the first time he was alone in Rick's room.

  
Blue, barely illuminated by a medium window, with curtains that had seen better days, no photos and many planes, no personal decoration and yes, several empty bottles. There was a mute feeling of abandonment and permanent chaos; like the scene of a crime, where a hurricane seemed to have swept through everything, but a long time ago.

  
Certainly, because of the dust, it was obvious that Rick didn't spend as much time in it as he should.

  
_"Why would he-he sleep here having his spaceship, or any-anywhere in the universe?"_ He thought.

  
Hardly audible, however, a bitter voice that sounded familiar whispered _"Or the room of any girl he chooses ..."_

_   
__"Not my problem. No, it isn't ... " _he said to himself, _“I-I-I don't even care, that's Rick, and that's fine"_ With the cold and the fire increasing, he climbed further into the bed, sinking into the small gap between the bed and the corner where it was attached.

  
Fiery skin covered his arms and the feeling of chills in the head, from the neck to the forehead appeared like a bird of ill omen, slowly pushing him to the well of anxiety and panic.

  
Swaying slightly, from back to front, inhaling and exhaling with all the seconds he could use, he concentrated, as if presenting a battle dance that would scare away his enemies.

  
Cunning, the voice he wanted to silence answered without problems: _“To not care, you cry as if it were a big problem, coward. Didn't you go up right now to cry here just because you saw it…”_

  
"Enough! I do not care! just… ” Morty covered his ears with both hands and raised his eyes to the ceiling, tapping his head as he hit her on the wall. He felt the fire in his stomach winning the battle against the cold, his breathing becoming heavy.

  
He knew Rick perfectly and for several years now, he was his best friend, assistant ... his shadow, his jester, his shield. And nothing more. And so things were good.

  
If it hadn't been for Rick, Morty would have grown up being even more pathetic and lonely than he was. Well, he had friends ... Rick's acquaintances, who talked to him too when they were together.

  
Before meeting him, he was invisible even to his own family; now they recognized him, if only to scold him for the constant disasters that the duo caused.

  
He secluded himself in his room, with a couple of colors and blank notebooks, drawing white, blue, and purple patches on black backgrounds that gave him hope about a feeling of loneliness; on the thickest night, in the loneliest life, there could be flashes like stars, a universe of possibilities for a lonely soul to find its place and solve the mysteries that gas and space dust hid among its particles: he saw in the universe an escape route. As Rick did it.

  
They were fourteen and fifteen when they met.

  
When Morty's world changed.

  
And he was happy.

  
Morty was happy like that.

  
He was since he met Rick,

  
Since they became friends.

  
Since they began their adventures.

  
Since his first battle.

  
From his first flight to space.

  
Since his first encounter near death.

  
Morty was happy.

  
Had never been so happy.

  
And he had never _suffered_ so much.

  
Everything and so much since Rick Sanchez came to live in the abandoned house next door during the spring, three years ago.

  
Just seeing him, with his sprawling teenage figure, with his long, rumpled and a blue -"fake" as everyone declared- hair that made him look like "a criminal, I tell you that it will only bring trouble to the neighborhood!" In words from his father, he had to know; just seeing him smile and greet him from his porch, with a half-faced smile, sly and confident ... friendly with him, while Morty played with his puppy in the garden, he should have known. He must have imagined the amount of sensations and moments that would come with Rick Sanchez.

  
He must have imagined how dangerous Rick Sanchez would be.

  
How much damage it could do to him only to have known him.

  
But when the new neighbor approached him, crossing his own garden full of men unloading the moving truck, while a black-haired woman directed those men inside the house, while Morty reflexively approached his fence, ignoring his little puppy, while they both stopped right in front of each other with that little old wooden wall separating them, while the new neighbor introduced himself as Rick Sanchez ... Morty couldn't have imagined a fraction of what awaited his life now that Rick lived right next to him ... not while he saw the trace of a smile, bright as a milky way star just for him.

  
Because no one had smiled at him like that before.

  
And that was the first trace on his way.


	2. Second trace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Nothing is the same. something changed.
> 
> And when the truth comes, what's next? What should you do?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: The characters do not belong to me, they are the intellectual property of Justin Roiland, Dan Harmon and Adult Swim. They are used without profit.
> 
> The plot of the story, however, is entirely mine.

_"Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson _

~ * ~

The music sounded quite loud and the colored lights created shadows on the walls, while a dozen bodies moved to the beat of the music, and as many drank, half danced and laughed in the immediate vicinity of the house; in the garden, the most dizzy and drunk people shouted, laughed for meaningless things and smoked, while in the kitchen conglomerates those who barely arrived at the party and looked for beer barrels and bottles with the strongest alcohol. Every corner of the first floor was being invaded by alcoholic teenagers, by bizarre lights, rock and roll and endless fun.

Everyone had fun without thinking about anything but the moment, without worrying about what would happen the next day, how they would even get home. There was no other feeling than fun and disinhibition.

For everyone except Rick.

That was his party, at his home, a well fucked and deserved party after a hard week ... and he was only grumbling, annoying and too damn sober.

He couldn't have a moment of tranquility?

_Why the fuck do I worry anyway?_ It's not like it was his fault, and Morty wasn't ... he had to _understand_ it, open his eyes and accept reality. None of that was his fault, why was he being so sensitive? He was Rick Sanchez, a crazy and selfish bastard who, however, would not betray the code between buddies. Morty _had_ to understand it, it was the least he deserved after the strenuous week they had barely survived and not thanks to the brunette, who lived more nervous and distracted than usual, causing at least ninety — all right, sixty — percent of all the shits that went wrong during their missions.

They hadn't given one!

When he thought that everything would finally work out, that he could start his fall break in a big way with a party and a drunkenness marathon, a slut appears and ruins everything.

Most, if not all the school, were at Rick's party by the time of nine o'clock. At ten, the party was already loud and raging, with more people than anyone had seen in a suburb house. Thanks to everyone being so young, the announcement of the party ran like wildfire, and in just one hour, even the teachers knew where and at what time they were all scheduled to celebrate.

"Great party, Rick!" a guy shouted as he passed through the kitchen, a face he didn't recognize from anywhere. Being honest, he didn't recognize more than half of those present, although he didn't give a shit. It was a party and not a stupid intellectual gathering. So he ended up standing in the middle of the kitchen facing the island where the buckets of beer wet the surface next to the overflowing ice. He looked around for a few seconds, more and more restless, wandering his sight among those present who collided looking for space and creating shadows in his mass of bodies. He searched behind them without luck, headed for the cupboard where he only found two cheerleaders kissing and left there whipping the door. He headed back to the room where most people danced.

The atmosphere was so hot that he began to sweat, feeling his hair sticking on the back of his neck and forehead, speeding up his heart and making his hands restless. His gaze traveled from the threshold of the hall with speed, returning several times to the same point still without luck.

_Where-where the fuck is that dwarf?_

"Rick" rang behind him.

_Why does it have to be so-so-so dramatic and sensitive? Shit, as if I ... as if I!_

"Rick ..."

_And why am I looking for him? If his brain cannot, nor think that this was not on purpose, it is not worth it ..._

"Rick?"

_Why is it so suffocating here?_ He took the front of his shirt and shook it, waiting for a little fresh to enter. Then he noticed how his hands were shaking slightly, _but what the fuck? _He had not drunk enough or smoked or inhaled anything that had put him in that state, Rick could not understand the state of restlessness in his body was. Would he have caught a mutant bacterium that was slowly killing him? _It could be that ..._

"Rick, are you alright?" A hand landed on his left shoulder, making him startle enough for Rick to turn ready to release a blow. With his clenched fist, he stopped just seeing Brian — or Bird, as everyone called him for his love of ornithology — watched him impassively and with that blank stare that bothered those who didn't know him. But Rick could see in his gaze a question, slight concern and even fatigue; Bird let go of his shoulder, dropping his loose arm at his side. Rick noticed the cup of beer he was holding, he was tempted to snatch it to drink from there, but he gave up at the last second.

He was sober. Cleansed. And his head was more diffuse than usual, he couldn't spin anything coherently. He couldn't get Morty out of his head nor did he seem to have enough control over his body's reactions which, being frank, was already thirty percent less organic and human.

"I'm fine. What's up, why aren't you enjoying the party?” He put his arm around his shoulders, wanting to forget the curly-haired boy, wanting to concentrate on drinking like crazy and having a good time.

Turning his body toward Rick without breaking contact or changing his expression, Bird handed Rick his glass and waited for him to start drinking it to speak.

“Are you looking for Morty? What did you do?” He asked without apparent emotion in his voice.

Almost choking, Rick passed that swig of vodka and tapped his chest to calm the pain, surprised and slightly irritated by Bird's question. Why was everything always _his_ fault?

“Who says it was me? And who cares? I'm not looking for him, that drama queen must be out there…” he grumbled and drank again from the glass while he winked at a blonde in a miniskirt that kept smiling at her from the dance floor.

Not believing in his word, noticing how Rick behaved, how he sweated and how his hand was shaking while holding the glass, he continued: “I saw Morty. It was about ten minutes ago.” He tilted his face a little, staring at Rick and lowering his own serious tone a little.“ He looked upset, more nervous than normal and a bit frantic. It only gets like this when you are also involved.”

Finishing the glass of vodka, Rick let go of his grip on Brian and watched him for a few seconds without scrutiny altering the other boy. Bird seemed very interested in blaming Rick for the little scene Morty was riding, leaving the party to lock himself up somewhere in the house or even going home. Even when he was involved in what could have caused Morty's anxious and nervous state, it didn't mean that he was directly the source of this or the mastermind behind the attack. And why did Bird care so much? This was another idiot who didn't know what to have a party. Instead of having fun, he was going to be the mother chicken.

“Are you going to stop accusing me with your eyes or not? I didn't do a shit” he growled. Bird remained undeterred. Instead, he finally changed his expressionless face and frowned so lightly that others could not have noticed.

“Rick, everyone saw you on the windowsill with Jessica riding you. Those who recorded already sent it to all who did not see it. I think it's obvious that Morty saw you too and that's why he decided to leave for a moment.” He crossed his arms as he let his dispassionate voice load with reproach.

Feeling a heat rise down his neck to his face, he didn't know if of grief —riiiight… — or annoyance, Rick crushed the glass in his hand and threw it over his shoulder without seeing who was hitting his path. Bird hinted that ... what? What was on purpose, planned?

“Hey, idiot, this was not my fault. She was the one-she-she-she threw on me and kissed me. She took me off guard and then-Ouugh-then I pulled her away from me, Morty is my ... I-I-I wouldn't do that to him! I know how much he likes that slut” slow but relentless as his own spirit, the fury, a flame inside Rick began to ignite. Very slowly, despite everything, Bird was also his friend and the calmest of all.

_Why the hell are you giving explanations?_ He asked himself.

“I doubt that you, the brightest scientific mind in the universe would not have seen such a situation coming, Rick. And that you don't know Morty and what _really_ affected him so much” he didn't flinch at the increased tension between them or Rick's body language; He flexed his hands, closing them and opening them about to throw a punch. “You must know perfectly the damage you cause, even though you call yourself his best friend. But you only act on your own selfish reasons; Squanchy and I can handle you, but a sweet boy like Morty can't. ”

_Sweet?_ What the fuck Since when did Brian talk like that about **his** Morty? Was that the week of madness?

Laughing, Rick brought his face closer to Bird's, invading his space and spoke with clenched teeth. Every word that came out of his mouth was accompanied by the thrust of his index finger on his friend's shoulder, barely a centimeter taller than him.

“W-ougat-what do you care about? You are _my_ friend, not his, and you, you talk shit. Do you imply something? Speak clearly, tell me that I am a bastard who should get away from that loser whom I have only given a-a-a-a-a more exciting life than anyone could have, and not only him but everyone here, including you, idiot.” A sudden thought made him freeze his blood and boil it just a thousandth later. It couldn't be, right? “Do you… do you defend it because you like it? Do you want to fu-fu-fuck the loser of Morty and I get in the way?” He took him by the jacket and hit his faces more. He was ready to forget that Bird was his friend. No one cheated on Rick Sanchez, he didn't like things behind his back or whispered; with him matters were shouted at the face and with fists in between if were necessary.

“Hey, calm down! It's not even twelve, are they already so drunk?” None noticed when Squanchy - not even Rick remembered his real name - had arrived at the party, not least when he had approached them, separating them with his strangely strong hands despite their height, since he was even shorter than Morty.

Apparently, no one else had noticed the atmosphere between them except Squanchy, which gave them the opportunity to breathe and seek to calm down, at least to Rick because Bird had returned his face to the same full of serenity he always had without problems.

Looking from one to the other, as if making sure that they would not jump into the jugular, Squanchy looked Rick for a long time. He also knew what had happened, and although he didn't tell them, he arrived in time to hear the exchange between the taller boys. He shared a look with Brian and without saying anything, understanding perfectly with that bond they had formed since third grade, he knew how to intervene.

"Listen, Rick" called him and the aforementioned observed "Morty went up to the second floor, has not come down again, so there you can find it since you were looking for it. Now, come on Bird” hung on Brian's shoulder to head to the kitchen for more drinks.

Passing by without looking at him, Bird spoke loudly enough that only Rick would hear him: “Be his friend for once and let him calm down alone. It will come down when it's ready, or it will go.”

"Fuck you" Rick replied without giving him another look.

Snorting, Rick walked through the dancers in his living room and climbed the stairs to the only place Morty would visit there.

**~ * ~**

It took at least ten minutes to calm down enough to not collapse. Although his heart was still emitting very fast and painful beats, his rapid breathing, cold and sweat had been almost eradicated; the fire that burned his insides was now only a flickering fathom at the bottom of his chest. It was more than enough to want to stand up, take a deep breath and walk down the stairs, enter the crowd of people and continue to party.

Pretending to have fun. That nothing mattered more than getting a good hangover for Saturday and starting his fall break like a hangover and pathetic cocoon under his blankets.

Morty knew that the slightest glimpse of something unpleasant would put him on the edge, that it would be like a glass of gasoline thrown into that little breaststroke, which could explode at any moment, raising his flames, threatening to consume everything in his path, leaving nothing but ashes and dust, like that town of Titan that Rick and he had set on fire on Tuesday, in what must have been a simple mission to _"rescue Princess Vilii from our enemies the Trygvix"_ for several hundred thousand flerbos.

Rick still took the money while everything exploded, not caring that the princess had lost an arm and was now a princess of only one dozen survivors with no place to live.

"You can, you can ... just breathe" I tried to take more courage. While he felt better, the chances of ruining everything were too high. The whole week was a roller coaster ride; an old, insecure, ramshackle and very _Final Destination_ roller coaster, with wooden seats, no seatbelts and on the edge of a cliff on the top that adjoined a frozen sea.

_Jerk, this is too much for you… Admit it, since She, you have been dying. Give up now”_ that voice whispered.

During the last couple of months - the last year - Morty had been slowly sliding into an increasingly hot and deep abyss, in free fall directly to hell, for that is how he felt. In hell itself. He could not understand the kind of feelings that devoured him, that appeared every moment scratching him with cruelty, roaring like wild beasts that threw themselves against the bars of his cage pushing to leave, to roar in his release ... to finish it.

It was a daily struggle that left him exhausted; between trying to lead a normal life in school, the adventures and jobs with Rick — which were anything but healthy and safe — added to his natural state of nervousness and awkwardness, he didn't know how the hell they were still alive. Certainly, that week had been the worst of all, a major failure, of greater risk and madness than the first week of adventures he lived with Rick three years ago. When he was certain of the universes and Rick denied them one by one.

"I need a vacation," he told himself.

Exhaling once more, he dragged his body across the bed until he sat on the shore, where he breathed one, two, three times more, deep breaths as the little embers inside him and his heartbeat slowly slowed.

Abruptly, the room door opened. The hallway light hit him full in the eyes, momentarily blinding him for a moment; blinking, Morty struggled to distinguish the shadow that was watching him under the doorway. With the same open, the music that was previously heard lightly, now entered as a war band, with force.

The shadow of the doorway entered the room, closed the door behind him, plunging them into darkness and letting Morty's sight adjust again. Carrying his eyes, he worried, who the hell would enter the room? What if he was someone very drunk ... and if he vomited on him? Standing up quickly, a slight dizziness pushed him forward and to the ground.

Warm hands took him by the arms tightly, squeezing him and preventing him from colliding with the ground, he was pulled up hard, hurting his arms and feeling the pressure of a rough grip.

"Are you already drunk, really?" Asked an unmistakable voice above his head.

Lifting his face, he ran into Rick's gaze, his brow furrowed, marked by his bent unibrow and a slightly irritated look. Separating him from himself, Rick slowly pushed him toward the bed, releasing his arms to step back to the door and reload there while crossing his arms.

An awkward silence settled between them while the music and the vibrations of the first floor were present. Morty rubbed his arms, avoiding bumping into Rick's gaze.

"What -ough- the hell are you doing here?" Asked the taller boy, still observing Morty's hair since the brunette refused to raise his face. Why the hell was he there? As if he were Morty's babysitter.

Not willing to start a sentimental speech or to give a weak excuse that Rick would bite through, he chose to be as honest as he could, clinging only to the facts and not to the motives.

"I didn't-" he cleared his throat "-I didn't feel well. I-I-I only went to rest for a moment. I was about to go down.” It was true, he just went up for a moment to calm down and then go down, he would have done it if it hadn't been for Rick's emergence into the room.

While observing it, Rick snorted as he moved his neck until he heard that characteristic crack sound when you stretched a joint. It wasn't for dramas, he wanted to go down to the party as soon as possible, look for the blonde who flirted with him and stop ... stop having Morty in the head.

“Well, we will go down. But tell me what the fuck happened to you, this has been our worst week in years, Morty!” Rick took off from the door, but didn't approach the smaller boy who still didn't see him. “I usually don't - I wouldn't mind your hormonal outbursts as a teenager, but I care when - when they affect my life or put me at risk. Talk-talk now or I won’t interested in your shit again ”

Anxious, exasperated, telling himself to calm down, that the feelings and thoughts he had been trying to calm down for the last half hour stopped pushing towards the surface like the foam of a soda, Morty tried to leave the conversation there. He didn't have the temperance to speak, even when Rick offered him a strange opportunity.

If Morty spoke in that state, he would end up collapsing, bursting like a broken hose, which was slowly losing water, drop by drop, that will break if it is opened and that will flood the ground. That will not stop but cut and seal the main pipes to close them.

Forever.

"I, I, I ..." he held his hands together, began to play nervously with his fingers, wearing a courage, a calm he didn't feel "... just, it's just that, well, you know. This, this week have been, have been missions of another level. I think, I think I'm not so ready for that and I got scared, I got very stressed. That, that's all.”

Grunting without believing him, Rick spoke louder, almost yelling at him and ignoring his own thoughts, hearing only the flame inside him, the sensations that still ran through his body when he looked for Morty. Like the emptiness that was created in his stomach when he watched Morty leave the room while Jessica was still on his legs, hugging him by the neck trying to put her tongue in his mouth. The emptiness and the cold fear that drowned him every time Morty almost failed to save himself in his adventures, or that he thinks he had lost him ... _What the fuck, Sanchez, really?_

"Fuck. Come on, I know you-you have a crush on Jessica but listen, listen to me Morty, she was the one who approached me and, and, and I almost threw her out the window. It's all yours, I don't even like it. We are friends… nor would I do something to you, something like that.”

Surprised by his words, Morty denied, and looked at Rick before looking down again. Rick looked a little upset, too.

“This, this is not for Jessica. It's been… long ago, I don't like it anymore.” He spoke so low that Rick wasn't sure he had heard it correctly.

"So? What else was it? You've been like this since… ” he began, out of nowhere, to remember how long Morty had been in that state. Since they met when they were younger, Morty was naturally nervous, it was already in his nature and that would hardly change over the years and living as he did with Rick. However, during the last couple of months- it was that he finally noticed that Morty was slowly getting closer and closer to such a fragile and susceptible state.

"... since I introduced you to Uni" He noticed how Morty was gushing. What did his failed relationship have to do with ...?

_Oh shit._

Knowing better than anyone that Rick noticed and found all the important little details, he didn't bother to hide his reaction. He sighed, thought that if he had left a minute earlier, Rick would not have cornered him, would have been able to go down, celebrate, calm down and they would stay together as if nothing.

With Morty being Rick's shadow. Following him wherever he went in the universe, knowing he was needed for something, even as an expendable shield, with the only person who had really noticed. That sometimes he acted as if he really cared because it meant something important in his life, not for ulterior motives. With the one who left nothing but death and destruction as he passed through the milky way. With that whom Morty needed so much.

Rick didn't say much more, for an instant lost also in his own thoughts. Morty took advantage of the moment to observe him from head to toe.

Tall, ungainly, he looked tired and lonely while losing himself in his thoughts. Although he was capable of everything in the universe, sometimes Morty witnessed Rick's honest, selfless and good deeds that he later denied; He knew that a small part of him was not a total bastard. With all the craziness he could be, Rick Sanchez could also suffer, feel like others; even he, the self-styled most intelligent man in the universe, was capable of great acts, of letting himself be controlled by his chemical reactions, falling in love with a person as incredible as himself, nothing more different from Morty.

Although at the beginning when Rick told him about Unity, this hive mind he met a weekend in Andromeda Φ, while Morty was recovering from an arquilian flu, he seemed an interesting person - or a he, she, that ... - with whom he could getting along, just like Bird and Squanchy once Rick introduced them at school.

Later, however, Morty began to feel uncomfortable; even though he was a little slow, wasn't totally stupid. He could tell how Unity always found a way to touch Rick, to make him laugh, to invite herself to the adventures they had. She helped Rick quickly and skillfully, leaving Morty aside although she was always kind to him. Until he noticed how there was condescension in his voice and Rick clearly did not notice that he was next to them, as if they were just Rick and Unity.

He tried not to pay attention, to ignore the painful beats that startled him when they were together. He tried to extinguish the burning in his stomach when Unity sat on Rick's legs, or when Rick sent him for something, as if he didn't know it was an excuse to be alone even when Uni was the one who had come by surprise.

Morty knew it was mean of him to get… jealous, of his friend. But he couldn't help it; for two years it had only been Rick and Morty and their adventures, which now included Unity. He must have been happy for Rick but he couldn't help it, his jealousy eaten him because they took away his best friend, the only one, actually.

_Jealous of your friend, are you sure?_ He mocked his inner voice.

It was them three for several weeks until one day he found Rick totally lost, tearful and babbling something about Unity and such a Blosthon planet that was her chance. He knew that Rick really cared about Uni, but feeling better to know her away, he focused on being selfish for once, rejoicing and saying that everything would return to normal.

Then, Rick found a brunette to have fun in Jupiter. And the burning, Morty's painful beats that rigged Unity, were present. And with every girl, man and less human creature with whom Rick spent his nights. That did not disappear.

It remained cleft in him, deeply, always latent and burning.

Rick chose that moment to run his hands over his face and complain.

“Really, Morty? What-what the hell, what does it have to do? ” He asked.

Feeling a blush go up his neck, warming his cheeks and making him sweat, Morty clenched his hands, cutting and slowing his circulation in his fingers, melting into that feeling of cold that creeps over the bloodless limbs.

They saw each other in the eye for the first time in the minutes they had been in that room.

The cold fury. The shame. Loneliness. The nuisance. Strangeness. Hope, everything in his eyes was exposed to the other.

There, in Rick's blue eyes, Morty reflected, and found a lot of Rick as well. He realized, then, that nothing was the same. That since Unity something changed.

When that something happened, he discovered it. Or he only prepared to admit it, because perhaps deep down and long ago he already knew, but there was no value in him, to recognize him.

And when the truth comes, what's next?

"I ..." swallowed, as the blush increased and his eyes stung with contained tears. Not one went down, "I ... Rick, I'm fine. It's just that ... I felt jealous of you and Unity. To lose you, to my only friend, the only person who ... who doesn't ignore me, that's nice. I thought that at any moment I ... well, you were going to change me for her, since she was adventurous and you were in love.” A thud throbbed in his chest. The itching of his eyes calmed down as he watched Rick with his unibrow raised and his mouth open, his arms lax at his sides.

"You ... you what?" Was all he managed to say. He did not expect such honesty.

_Oh, little Morty is very sorry for you, Sanchez. And you are not worthy of it._ He mocked himself.

_Silly stuff. It is nonsense. Morty is ... why would he get so jealous, bad? You don't get that way for a friend._

_You sure?  
_

Not knowing how to react, frightened by the possibilities, Rick responded rudely, with sarcasm and pedantry, as he used to do when something went out of his damn control. And he found no other way than mockery.

“And what, will you tell me that you fell in love with me or shit like that? What, did you go up to think and what, and what-did you discover that you love me?” He laughed out loud.

"No-no" swallowed hard_. Be strong_, he told himself once more “No. I'm not such an idiot to ... look at someone who would never notice or love me. At least that I learned from having had a crush for Jessica for so long,” he finished without seeing Rick directly.

Uncomfortable, the tension in the room began to alter them to want to get out of there. In Morty, the embers froze, although his heart and the trembling of his hands continued at his own pace. In Rick, a sudden feeling of heaviness in his stomach took his breath away, but Morty's words blew over his own little inner flame.

“What, you say it would be a mistake? Because looking at a damn God of the universe like me, Morty, would be the only smart thing you could ever do” he spat with clenched teeth. Morty, annoyed and not at all surprised by his arrogance and contempt, deigned to look him in the eyes, silently, clenching his hands into fists. Not completely satisfied, Rick continued, he didn't give a shit about the brunette, he was tired of being his babysitter, of having him close… of having him in his head all the time… of being reflected in his eyes “although of course, someone like me doesn't know would lower to look at an idiot loser like you. A desperate loser to whom to give charity” he concluded.

During his years together, Rick had insulted him until he was tired. He had beaten, used, half killed and insulted in languages he did not know and had made fun of; but he also offered his life so much and lived incredible experiences together, or he managed to learn and live unimaginable things as a result of each act. That is why there were not so many complaints, he learned to return some physical and verbal blows ... however, they never crossed the line, that invisible that they discovered in silence and learned to respect. Until now.

Arming himself with strength, courage, Morty took a breath of air that tasted icy like an iceberg, which squeezed and sank a finger in the wound over his heart that Rick's words, like a razor, caused him. He swallowed and saw him again. He watched Rick, much taller than him, snort and stare at him hard with his jaw clenched, waiting for Morty to follow and fight?

He was tired. Fed up. Sore.

Decided.

Rick was nobody, they couldn't even be good friends, fellow adventurers. No more.

_And never something else_. He told himself.

He looked Rick in the eye for a second. Two. Three. And smiled.

Dislocated, Rick released the air he didn't know he had contained and frowned, not understanding Morty's brat.

"You're right. No one would notice a loser, a weirdo like me, I'm worth nothing, nothing of me is worth it. I'm just a shield that doesn't work very well anyway. So ignore me from now on.” He smiled, with boredom, falsehood and pain so bright on his face, so notorious, as present as the super flying rats of Flomnir V.

He felt his heart skip two beats when Morty just passed him sideways and toward the door, opening it and leaving Rick's room that suddenly became too cold. He couldn't understand what the fuck happened between them. How did they get to that? Ignore Morty? _But what the hell did that mean ...?_

Why did it hurt?

_Why I care? _Rick wondered, as he kicked an empty can of beer on the floor and also headed for the exit and down the hall to the stairs, lowering them while the music stunned his ears and spiked his eardrums and colored lights caused him a migraine.

When did it all bother to him? Morty was nothing more than a small, ungrateful and annoying rat, who believed himself with power over Rick, and it wasn't like that! No one could control Rick Sanchez, no person had power over him. He was completely above the banalities and crap like the whole spectrum of feelings and love ... right?

_Yes. Yes, totally_. It was repeated.

_Fuck Morty! It's my party and I'm going to drink until I die! Let that fool rot! I don't care, nor do I need it._

Standing still on the last step, Rick ran his frantic hands - when had they begun to shake like that? - through his hair and sweat from his forehead. He smiled feeling in total control of the situation, pushing the torrent of emotions from his body and his mind full of Morty aside.

He went down and approached the room where everyone kept dancing and snatched a glass of beer from a guy on his left. He watched Morty stand in a corner near the couch; He didn't seem out of an argument or upset, he actually rocked slightly with the music and smiled as Bird approached him, handing him a red glass with a stupid straw and said something to Morty that made him smile.

Crushing the glass in his hand, Rick threw it on the floor and went into the room, extending his arms, ignoring Morty, to shout: "It's time for this party to end!" Everyone watched him surprised, silent while the DJ lowered the volume of the music. Rick smiled approaching a barrel of beer on the table that someone mounted near the stairs and shouted again: “And let the after party start, bitches!” While everyone yelled cheers, laughed and danced again more uninhibited when the DJ raised the music more and invited them to move the body or follow the games with those who just wanted to get drunk.

Rick soon found the blonde who was behind him early. He didn't bother talking to her, knowing her name or even if she was from school. He simply took her by the waist and kissed her roughly for later, to take off her and begin to dance with everyone caround. He forced himself not to look for Morty with his eyes, although he knew the brunet was right there.

_Have he seen me, saw me kissing this slut? ... Agh, no! I do not care!_ He pinched the bridge of his nose, while the blond girl rubbed against him and kissed his neck, using too much saliva and too much tongue. _Ugh_

"Oh, Rick, why don't we go to a more private place? Mmhm?" She said. Rick kept dancing, less lively and more disgusted by the blonde in his arms. "Although we can still do it here, if you don't mind me either ..." she laughed, thinking she sounded bold.

Pretending to consider it, trying to calm down a bit, because maybe only that he needed to respond to the blonde's attention, Rick directed them to the green sofa across the room, sitting with the laughing girl on his thighs while licking his lobe of the ear.

"And why do you want a -OuuhG-more private place, what do you have in mind?" He asked. He felt his wet tongue go into his ear, _ugh_, nothing hot or sexy for him.

While the girl invented a list of what she could do to him, Rick watched without being able to avoid it as Morty swallowed his glass of alcohol at once while Bird passed another and Squanchy was the _Travolta_ of the track.

_What the fuck, Morty? You don't know how to drink, how the fuck do you…? Forget it, Sanchez!_

"Rick, are you listening to me?" The girl screamed in his ear.

Feeling even less excited, Rick put his hands on the wasp's waist to keep the annoying girl from rocking on him.

Then something caught his sight.

Morty was blushing, laughing and because of his clumsiness, he almost fell from the divan. Bird, however, managed to stop him, passing an arm over his waist and finding him beside him, where he seemed to say something that increased Morty's laughter. Until the whispers became a kiss almost on the lips.

Morty stopped laughing, and watched Bird say something else until he brought his faces too close again.

_Not._

_NO_.

Rick's fury, unbeatable, burst and burned in his wake. Didn't know that would be his second trace.

"What the fuck, asshole!?" the blonde girl shouted when she suddenly saw herself on the floor. Rick lay on his feet, got up out of nowhere and likewise, pushing people in his path, including Squanchy, got to Bird who didn't let Morty go.

"Do you need anything?" Asked Bird. Morty didn't deign to look at him.

Not caring about anything other than burning everything or calming the fire in his veins, Rick pushed Bird from the divan causing Morty to be surprised and let go of his waist. He closed his hand on his forearm tightly like a red-steel handle and lifted it in a second, dragging it along the stairs and into his room.

"Let go of me, Rick, what the fuck with you!" Morty struggled to let go.

Opening the door and throwing Morty inside, Rick slammed the door behind him and locked it.

_Now what?_ He wondered as Morty rubbed his arm and Rick breathed as if he had run a marathon.

_Shit, what did I do?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I still don't know how to use the page very well, so sorry if the paragraphs have too much space between them or are in a weird format.


	3. Last trace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Some things are only discovered when the end comes."  
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Sorry for being late; But my laptop sucks, the adult life with work caught me ... life happens, in general. But I am infinitely grateful for your support.
> 
> Dedicated to is.Trash and JuJu (?) Because receiving their messages reminded me that the end was pending.

CHAPTER III

Despite being the brightest scientific mind in the universe, sometimes Rick could be an idiot. A complete moron, a psychopath, a madman, a heartless bastard. A real fool.

Just like now: driven by his impulses and alcohol - although he was not drunk - had made a scene at the party pushing that sexy girl, Bird, everyone in his path while dragging Morty to the second floor where nobody would go to bother them. Although it usually didn't matter if they trashed the first floor of their home during a party, the second floor was, along with their garage, off limits. And since nobody wanted to mess with Rick, there were never people hanging around.

Running his hands through his hair, perhaps for the hundredth time that night, Rick snorted as he watched Morty rub his arm and stammer complaints about his treatment. He looked annoyed in that bratty way that made him look more like a pout than a real annoyance; his thin arm was a little red as his face. His curly hair was dull and behind his eyes was a shadow of weariness, resignation, false calm and loneliness. How could he not have noticed before? How long ago did Morty become this automaton shadow that followed him with so much effort?

"I-I don't-I don’t know what yo-you want, Rick, dragging me here and in front of everyone, making a scene like that. A-are you really such a jerk? You even pushed Brian, he is your best friend! What the hell is wrong with you? ” Morty scolded, sighing, not even raising a Hertz his volume, nor his gaze. He had stopped rubbing his still pulsing arm; in a few hours he would still have small bruises because of Rick. It still surprised him that in a body as thin but lean as Rick's, there was so much strength. This was how he caught many off guard when things turned into physical fights; no one expected that the skinny scientist could hit as a heavyweight boxer whenever he felt like it. That was another of the many things he liked about Rick, even if he didn't admit it to him, because such an admission would only inflate his ego. He could picture him using any excuse or moment to raise his arms and fold them to show him his biceps as a model.

… _You would still like, if you must admit it_. Many times, he imagined himself as the people Rick was flirting with at school or in other dimensions. Girls, few boys and other beautiful creatures of less than human appearance, but always the target of their flirtatious attentions and gallantry. Shit, Rick really did have a lot of different tricks up his sleeves; flirting like a casanova was one of those tricks. With arrogant smiles, with small acts that made him look like a hero -very screwed-, he always got rowdy hearts, sighs and blushes from those people. Even his own even though he was hiding behind crossed arms and a frown or a _"We don't have time, Rick, let's go"_ ... And now, with Rick dragging him to his room in the middle of a party, after his outburst where he basically admitted his feelings for him, probably the last blow he needed in his pathetic teenage life would come.

Total rejection. Why else would they be there, if not to tell him how upset he was at his feelings, how pathetic and gross he was? ... to tell him that now he didn't need him as his friend or sidekick?

Were they there to hit him, spit in his face that he didn't want to see him again?

His heart clenched in his chest and his knees trembled. Fiery, behind the eyes he felt the tears begin to accumulate slowly, but unbeatable in the end. Morty clenched his hands into fists and hid his head even further in his chest, refusing to let Rick see him so defeated, more vulnerable than ever.

Ever since he noticed how his own feelings began to change, Morty knew that this was a probability. Just as he knew that Rick would not reciprocate, being sidelined was always his greatest concern. Because Rick was the only thing keeping him afloat; With a useless and abusive father, with a neglected alcoholic mother, and with his sister running away two years ago, he wouldn't have much choice. And even that didn't matter to him or caused him the same fear as thinking about being away from Rick; because he could live with his scorn, or his teasing if he decided to keep him as his foolish assistant, but he came to realize that he could not live without him. Rick was the little volt that kept his heart beating, the flame of a candle, sheltering him from the darkness that always hung over him, covering his mind with a heavy cloak of darkness and leaving him with a trail of chills on his head or without air in the lungs. Being with him, he felt loved in some way, and he felt that he could take care of someone else and somehow love him.

Now, he would have nothing.

It was the end.

Feeling heavy, that a wave of dark water hit him and increased, threatening and drowning him, Morty did the only thing he could in his situation.

To struggle.

It was a losing battle, he knew it, but had he ever heard that when you have nothing left to fight for, it is when you really must use all your strength. And that would.

To hell with Rick, with his feelings and his heart. He was a loser, a coward, yes, but he was not going to drift. If he learned anything from his years with Rick, it is that you must take care of yourself because no one else will. He wasn't going to die of love, least of all in front of Rick's idiot. _Not today, bitch._

"You didn't have to-to-to do this, Rick. I-I got your message,” Morty spoke, his voice cracking, even though his own ears couldn't tell. As if he noticed that some rebellious tears escaped from his eyes and rolled down his cheeks until he hung from his chin and fell, getting lost somewhere on the floor between his feet and Rick's. “I never-n-never expected anything from you. I will wa-walk away, you will not have to bear me or continue with your charity. Good luck."

Taking a couple of steps, Morty walked past Rick's side, heading for the door and opening it.

With a scourge, the door closed and Morty noticed Rick's long arm at his side, stretched out and over the door preventing him from opening it again. What did he want? Morty, his breathing hard, still shaky, and tears running dry, huffed in annoyance, outraged by Rick's ridiculous act; he couldn't say anything else to hurt him, and he certainly wasn't going to stay to hear him mocking him. So taking a deep breath and pushed by anger, he turned around, facing him at last.

"Rick, what the fuck is wrong with you!" he scream.

Then Rick pounced, pushing him against the door and reflexively, Morty closed his eyes, raising his arms to the front expecting a blow to the face or a slap, a cake ... everything but no a pair of cold lips on his.

Taking him by surprise, Rick grabbed both of Morty's arms and shoved them down, clearing the path and bringing his body closer to the other boy's enough to kiss him. He covered Morty's mouth with his lips, warmer. He moved his lips kissing him hard and longing as Morty flapped his arms seeking to free them. Rick pressed his mouth further for an answer from the other and received it when he felt Morty's lips moving at the same time as his, covering his lower lip, waiting for him to run his tongue over him, licking and sucking on him. Instead, he felt an acrid taste and pain when Morty viciously bit his mouth to shove him away with his arms.

Totally mystified, but equally furious, confused, anxious, Rick shoved Morty back, grabbing him by the front of the shirt, nailing it to the wood of his door, and using one hand to take his chin, squeezing his cheeks equally hard. While, without any kindness or care, he brought their faces closer, seeking to kiss him again; he rested his lips on Morty's harder this time, still squeezing him from the face hoping not to break contact with the frantic movement of Morty, who used his arms to hit him in the chest and struggled to pull his face away. Rick didn't budge a bit ... until he felt something warm slip through his fingers and Morty's chin.

Opening his eyes, Rick met Morty's red, broken gaze, his face grimacing with pain, pale and covered in tears.

Loosening his grip on the brunet, he soon saw a step away from Morty when he finally managed to push him away.

They both fell into heavy silence where nothing but the almost imperceptible rumble of the party below and their own breaths could be heard in the room.

Breaking that dense silence, Morty began to laugh. Without understanding anything, Rick watched him.

“I can't believe you- you came to this, really, Rick? You are worse than trash…” His laugh, cracked by his crying and the tears that still ran down his cheeks, was pure disbelief. And in his eyes, a pit of pain that Rick couldn't and wouldn't admit was for him.

But his pain was palpable, burning like gall. Morty had suffered much at his side, but neither the death of his dog nor the letter that his sister, Summer, had left him the day she ran away from home, had caused him such suffering.

And yet, that pain in Morty was not the shadow of what Rick felt when Morty, just a minute ago, told him that… it was the end, and he would walk away from him.

Rick was a practical and smart boy. It didn't take anything else to understand everything. Although there was nothing else that he hated more than feelings and above all to analyze his own feelings, it was enough to think how he felt with Morty, what caused him - come on, he had already thought about it since the first time they went on an adventure - What made him different from other creatures ... what worried him, how much it revolutionized him to see him with Bird or how angry he was to see him sigh for Jessica, to suspect.

But feeling that letting him go through that door was the same as _“The End”_ in a movie, gave him the last trace. The last confirmation tracks. Because he could have denied it, but some things, like love, were sometimes discovered when the end came.

_"Oh shit, I sounded like the lead in a damn Hallmark movie."_

However, it was the truth.

If only he were a little more human, less selfish, he would leave Morty alone to leave and not continue to cause him more pain. It was a shame that he was not like that.

Approaching Morty again, the brunette did not back down this time. Instead, with his tearful face, he faced Rick, this time ready to hit him if he would leave the room with his little dignity and heart intact. _All right, let's do it_.

Taking him by the shoulders, Rick brought Morty close enough to hear him, found the smallest putting up resistance, but it was enough to squeeze his arms and pull a little to move the centimeters he needed. The difference in height was no longer what it was in the past, but Rick was still a head taller than Morty; he would not admit it, but he enjoyed that difference among all that existed between them.

"Yep, I'm an-an idiot, but you already know-know-know that." He belched "And you mu-should know that I don't do anything I don't want to, retard" tightened his grip on Morty even more. “This is- This is what it means, don't make me explain it to you with diagrams, you little idiot. See you down there wi- fuck, with Bird, the one you got out of here… I should only have added two plus two.” In a second, he found himself sticking his chest to Morty's, passing his arms over the thin back covered in a yellow shirt, resting his chin a little uncomfortably on the tan's temple, feeling the warmth of his skin and the softness of it. In his chest, his heart beat faster, racing, galloping like a horse running to freedom, or was it his own heartbeat?

"This is not funny, Rick." Still, he felt his slender arms, also warm, go down his back and his hands placed on his shoulder blades.

Snorting in mock annoyance, he tightened his hold on Morty. “I-I-I'm not trying to be. Come on, your-ough- only functional neuron in that tiny brain must be able to understand it, Morty"

Backing up a few steps without releasing his hold, he walked until the back of his knees collided with the edge of his bed. Still hugging Morty, Rick sat down, placing the boy with the yellow shirt next to him, his thighs together without leaving space. Uncomfortable, they held onto that position out of sheer stubbornness of one and the insecurity of the other.

In his head, Morty couldn't find an ounce of strength to get mad at Rick's insults and contempt. _What am I supposed to understand?_ Rick… corresponded to him, how was that even possible?

A part of him wanted to get excited, accept it, shout with pleasure because for once the loser Morty Smith got something he wanted. The other, darker, with voices constantly shouting at him how he had no value or deserved to have a life, did nothing but warn him. That it was a trap, that if he let Rick do this to him, in a few weeks he would discard it, and then now it would truly be nothing more than an empty shell. Accepting that Rick loved him would give him control and the power to take everything from him, everything that was left or what Morty was. Asked a voice deep inside, as he hyperventilated and tightened his grip on Rick to pain, if it would be worth the joy of those few weeks with Rick, of that moment they shared in his room, for the weeks, the months and the years of desolation that would come once it was over. _I couldn't live like this, I couldn't!_

Then it happened.

So fast he could have imagined it.

So low that he surely didn't hear it.

So strong, he made his decision.

“… It's the only time, Morty. I never, never knew why I promised ourselves a hundred years together. I know now." Releasing his embrace, Rick parted enough to take Morty's cheeks with both hands and look into his eyes, still a little flushed. He hadn't been able to say it head-on, maybe one day he would say it while looking him in the eye, maybe never. But he could see it right now, with a promise of security and honesty that, he hoped, the other would understand.

Morty understood.

If his ending was written in the very near future, he would learn to live with what was left. He would live with this now. Today. And he would forget the tomorrow. He would turn to see the night sky and look at the stars, in the universe, the trace of what he had now and that he would never forget. That was enough for him.

Speechless - because they were both assholes who couldn't use words to get anywhere - with a dry nod of his head, Morty relayed his message to Rick. _I believed in you_, and they were fine.

Unable to contain himself any longer, Rick approached Morty's face, eyes still wide, waiting for any sign that the brunette didn't want this, so he will stop. Rick might be a total idiot, but this was something that, at least now, he wouldn't do to Morty if he refused; but as the distance between his lips decreased, he found Morty's eyelids closed and he closing every distance between their mouths, kissing him with confidence.

Nothing like the kiss he had forced minutes ago, this one was different in every way. Rick didn't trust the cliches that talked about fireworks, the Titanic melody playing in the background, or the butterflies in his stomach that attacked when you kissed the _right_ person, but shit if he didn't feel completely different from any kiss he'd given before.

Morty's soft, plump lips moved alongside his slowly, covering every inch of skin while still kissing, as their hands made a slow tour of Rick's chest and Morty's thighs. That kiss felt better than anyone had imagined; the warm air they shared warmed them from the inside and took their breath away little by little. Not satisfied, the lips of one caught the bottom of the other, running the tip of his tongue from left to right, very slowly, wanting an invitation to enter the other mouth.

A small, faint voice inside him, which he hardly ever heard, asked Rick if he wasn't carrying this too fast. And he was about to back away, when another small tongue brushed against his, sending shivers down his spine, forcing him to tighten his grip on the thighs that both hands now ran shamelessly.

As soon as he felt Morty's tongue, his insides stirred, and the heat of his face seemed to descend to another part of his body. He didn't expect that kissing Morty would turn him on so much, he was just kissing him, he hadn't even dared caress him anywhere else, but he wanted to kiss Morty until he was out of breath.

Morty, on the other hand, frowned slightly as he noticed Rick's play, since every time the scientist's tongue incited his with ephemeral touches and he tried to deepen the contact, it moved away. So to end that, his tongue pushed the opposite, this time being the one who invaded the other's mouth. Starting a fight that started a burning in both teenagers, in the stomach and further south of their bodies, moving them as a mental tornado engulfed them.

Excited, Rick grabbed Morty's body around the waist in a possessive, firm grip, and slammed him against the bed, pulling out a muffled noise of surprise from Morty that he took advantage of to finally tangle their tongues. The heat of his body grew, and somewhat uncomfortable, he felt him concentrate accompanied by a kind of tickling. It couldn't be that for a kiss his body reacted like this. He tried to calm down a bit to control that feeling, but being almost literally munching on Morty's mouth as if his life depended on it, and having that body so close, definitely wasn't getting help.

Feeling the need for air, something reluctant moved away a little, seeing the minor as panting as he was, but completely flushed. A thin thread of saliva linked their mouths for a few seconds until they broke.

Morty leaning under Rick was blowing calmly, taking little puffs of air, wanting to stabilize his lungs and his breathing from lack of oxygen. On top of him, Rick only saw him, his gaze somewhat darkened as his hands, still, were only on his sides. He didn't come close to kissing him again, nor caressing him with the urgency that Morty already felt on his skin, like ants walking all over his body and Rick's hands like the cloak that would alleviate his deep burning.

Without taking his eyes from the blue eyes, he lowered one of his hands to rest on one of Rick's that still remained holding him by the waist. Slowly, he guided the white hand with his until they were both lost under his shirt, urging him to caress his side and belly. He pressed his lips to the lobe of one ear, brushing against it.

"Touch me," he whispered softly, then slid his tongue along the outline of the white ear.

If Morty had seen Rick's expression, he would have thought that he hadn't even flinched at what he had just said. But the truth was that the taller boy's interior felt boiling after hearing that, wanting more and more to obey that whisper of Morty and start touching him at once. Although there was still that voice telling him it was too soon ... he wanted to convince himself that he stopped thinking about Morty. Or was it that he felt differently being with someone ... important to himself?

Without moving an inch, he allowed Morty to guide his hand freely, silently enjoying the feel of the warm, soft skin under his fingertips. Two of his fingers ran into his right nipple, and he instantly heard a soft gasp very close to his ear, causing a slight shiver and a disturbing tingling in his lower abdomen.

But before he could even open his mouth, his two fingers had begun to gently brush the nipple within his reach, as if they had a life of their own. Instantly he was rewarded with a slight tremor from the brunette and another soft gasp that hit him square in the ear. He thought Morty was too sensitive, having barely brushed against him and reacted like that, but inwardly he liked it, the knowledge that it could.. that could make him feel that way.

Moved by curiosity mixed with his eagerness to touch, he slipped his other hand under Morty's shirt and with both thumbs he stimulated both nipples slowly, quickly feeling them hard and erect. He clenched his teeth and a soft growl was choked in his throat as he unexpectedly felt the boy's teeth dig into the bottom of the curve of his neck, beginning to suck later.

"Hey -ough-you," he began quietly, wanting to make him annoyed by his own sudden reluctance. "S-Stop doing that, youuu, you look like a mosquito."

Instantly Morty pulled away and gave a slight laugh, albeit obviously amused. He ran a finger over the mark that was beginning to turn reddish on the white skin. He wanted to play a little more, annoy Rick leaving numerous of those marks all over his body, but as time passed he felt more heated and with an uncomfortable discomfort growing inside his pants. The pressing need to feel attached to Rick was growing ever more intense. Rick couldn't imagine that Morty, his little Morty was not a prude. Apparently, he had learned quite a bit by his side.

Being the one who would have to push a little for the situation to move somewhere, Morty appealed to Rick's short temper and competitiveness, if he bothered him a bit, maybe he would stop being so slow and bring this to the climax their bodies needed. So much.

Running his hands down Rick's sides as he spread his legs and lifted them to fit Rick perfectly between his thighs, Morty latched onto his body and headed for Rick's neck, kissing him slowly upward, from his collarbone to his earlobe, the ear where he delivered the first and only blow he needed.

"Are you scared, Rick? I-I thought you knew how to do this.” Unexpectedly, he placed his hands on Rick's ass, squeezing him and lifting his hips, rubbing his crotches and he could see that Rick was as erect as he was under his pants.

Frankly surprised by Morty's confidence and advances, Rick gave a little gasp. Feeling Morty's erect cock rubbing slowly against his, and the burning in his pride at Morty's mockery, he sent to the hell that little voice that ultimately suggested that he make this a special memory for both_. Fuck with that little shit_, he wanted to be fuck and Rick wanted too.

Rick Sanchez never denied himself anything he wanted. And if Morty also wanted ...

“Ough, little shit, you-you” Rick bite him hard on his neck. Morty scream, feeling more pleasure than pain and crushing his tights harder “-you will regret this later.”

Seeing Morty's half-open mouth, Rick kissed him again, sticking his tongue inside and starting a fight inside, as he felt Morty's hands still on his ass, squeezing and pushing him down as he reached up and rubbed together.

Beginning to despair, Rick pulled a handout of the yellow T-shirt Morty was wearing and unbraked, slipped it between his legs, directly over Morty's zipper where his erection was pushing. Wasting no time, he tugged at the zipper and opened the slim boy's blue pants with his button. Panting louder, they parted their mouths, stared at each other for a single second. Green and blue, clouded by desire and shiny by the ecstasy that enveloped them.

With overwhelming swiftness, Morty tugged on his own pants and underwear, releasing his reddened cock for attention. His pants being on the knees, they went down further until they disappeared next to his shoes on the floor when Rick, with an arrogant smile, pulled them and threw them without care.

Not needing an invitation, Morty stretched out his arms and laid his hands on Rick's button and zipper, giving him an intense look as he opened them and began to lower them to his thighs; heated, with tiny beads of sweat on his chest, Rick grabbed his black T-shirt and pulled it out over his head, tossing it next to Morty's pants on the floor. Time was running and their bodies asked them to appease the heat that threatened to consume them to ashes.

Letting himself settle back between Morty's thighs, now without clothes on, both of them let out a moan at the sensation of their erections together, skin to skin. Kissing without leaving an inch without licking or sucking, they rocked their hips back and forth, rubbing together, letting the pre-seminal fluid make them easier to move. Morty, panting harder, pushed his hand between their bodies and when he found both erections, he began to masturbate them, moving his hand mercilessly over both circumferences although his hand barely covered one without problems; but he ran his thumb over the bulbous head of Rick's penis, moving it over the small entrance, from one side to the other, sweeping the liquid that came out of it. On his neck, Rick bit, licked and sucked every inch of skin that the collar of the yellow shirt let him find.

The atmosphere in the room was warming up even more, the small windows began to blur slowly. They followed that rhythm for just a few more minutes, of kisses that devoured a mouth, of bites that would burn all week, of gasps gasped and the sound of skin rubbing until Rick, with effort, separated from Morty, leaving him half sitting between his legs and the brunette from below raised his shirt a little, looking for extra relief from that suffocation. With nothing more than a glance, Rick inserted two fingers of his hand into Morty's mouth, he immediately understood what he should do, so he began to suck them as if life was going away, passing his tongue between his fingers and filling them out to the knuckles, feeling traces of saliva escape from his lips and run to the sides and down his chin.

When he considered it appropriate, he withdrew his moistened fingers and brought them closer to the dark butt.

"Don't be tense, baby."

It was all he said before starting to insert the first finger. The sensation was of a tight heat that drew him. He noticed Morty gently shake his hip, silently asking him to move, and he did so. He slid his finger till the knuckle, pulled it out slowly, turned it slightly, pulled it back more confidently now, and put it back in, faster and easier than the first time. Inside, outside, turning, he moved his finger like that several more times until he felt the squeeze that prevented him from passing.

Morty grimaced slightly as he felt the second digit enter. The feeling wasn't all joy, but the fact that Rick did it delighted him. He tilted his head a little, keeping his waist slightly raised, and toyed with the lobe of the blue-haired boy's right ear, hunting him between his lips, licking or biting him gently. He smiled slightly when he heard a small growl from Rick, apparently he was sensitive in that part. He made a slight complaint, though, when Rick pulled his fingers away from him without much care. Without thinking, he climbed up to the scientist's chest and bit down on one of the nipples with some viciousness, then licked it a few times with a sudden softness.

"Got damn!"

He saw Morty look up and face him with a decided gleam in his green eyes, the same one he had seen before, during his second kiss, when he directed those three ridiculous words. He couldn't keep complaining when he saw the brunette settle closer to his pelvis; and his expression of false anger, wanting to keep him from noticing how much that bite on his nipple had turned him on-, disappeared when a soft gasp came from his lips as Morty took his cock with one hand guiding him to his own entrance.

For his part, Rick lowered his hands to rest on Morty's round ass. Yeap, he noticed what such awesome ass that little shit has. So, he stroked them and squeezed a little before pulling them apart slightly so he could break through, though it wasn't easy. He had to hold his member with one hand to facilitate entry. He was forced to stop when he had only inserted the glans, clenching his teeth as he felt the oppressive warmth inside Morty. Kissing him hungrily, Rick again began to thrust his hip, slowly making his way inside Morty, filling him with his member like his tongue with his mouth.

Leaning over as Rick was on him, filling him slowly, Morty felt his neglected erection and, with his left hand, began to jerk off again. He started by stimulating the glans, pressing lightly and enjoying the tingling that seemed to lash his toes. He slid the caresses to the trunk, insistently massaging it. The feeling was pleasant. He sighed deeply, loudly, and increased the intensity a little.

Several sighs and muffled moans came to Rick's ears that caught his attention. He observed Morty in more detail, and being able to observe even in the darkness of the room, that Morty only held him with one hand, while the other was lost in his body, masturbating. Excited by the sight and feel of their bodies together, he tried to push again, noting that this time he could enter with a little more ease. He breathed out loudly when he knew himself inside Morty completely, wrapped in that tight warmth that encouraged him to move and was consuming them like lava.

And began to move. Inside, outside, over and over again.

He went out a little and went back inside, hearing a loud moan from the brunette that symbolized his pleasure. He put an arm around Morty's waist and his other hand rested it on the mattress below them, on the side where Morty was not holding. He continued to charge, feeling each moment more secure in his movements.

"Riiick"

Hearing his name being pronounced that way gave him a kind of whiplash that ran through him completely. Morty's voice, calling to him from his pleasure, had felt like a hot shot of whiskey.

"Rick, please. Moreee~" he groaned to the rhythm of his thrusts.

Aphrodisiac, perhaps that would be the term for what Morty's moans made him feel, as it encouraged him to continue and not stop for anything in the world. His lunges grew stronger, his breathing had become heavy and gasping, and his muscles, especially his legs, were tense.

Helping himself with the arm that kept Morty surrounded, each time it penetrates him, it draws him to it to go deeper. His hand on the sheets closed into a fist. It was so pleasant that it even seemed unreal.

Morty had closed his eyes in an attempt to intensify the sensations. He heard Rick not moan, but he did hear his rapid gasping and grunting. Rick didn't caress him or kiss him anymore, but he felt the firm, possessive hug he held in him. Even in such a situation, his friend was a rough bastard.

A real idiot, but that's how he loved him.

The onslaught caused very intense sensations: heat, pressure, tickling, flashing lights, a swirl in the belly, a tidal wave on the skin ... Morty's body was like nothing he had ever felt before.

His breathing became erratic, his thrusts with abandon, feeling the heat of Morty enveloping him with force, squeezing him, sucking as if wanting to hold him inside indefinitely. Rick felt a spasm run through him, warning him that the end was near; He cursed his body and Morty's, for having little endurance, for not having experienced such a pleasure before that took him to his limit so soon. Releasing the hold on Morty, with both hands now on the mattress, he squeezed the sheets tightly, delaying the inevitable as best he could.

Morty couldn't see him, caught in his pleasure as he was, keeping his eyes closed and his mouth open, moaning with every thrust of Rick. Feeling a new chill, with Morty's screams rising, the warning returned. And it bothered him even more not to see the green and pleasure mixed in the brunette's eyes.

"Look at me," he ordered forcefully, leaving no room for disobedience.

In less than a second, Morty obeyed and opened his eyes, staring intently at Rick as the rhythm of his hips and hand accelerated.

"Rick," he called out in a ragged voice and rapid breathing. A muffled whimper "I can't ... hold it any longer."

As soon as he heard that, Rick quickened the rhythm of the thrusts, turning them violent, pounding desperately and without rhythm and listening to how Morty's moans turned into screams of pleasure.

"Rick, Rick, Riiick!" Morty yelled loudly, as he stopped his hand and felt his orgasm dripping between his fingers. Just seconds later, a growl that sounded like "Mortyyy!" was heard in the room. Following that, a feeling of warmth washed over him, feeling him all over his body and inside him, filling him.

They stood still for a moment, trying to calm their breathing and the pounding of their hearts, before Rick left that warm interior, carefully.

Morty stopped wrapping his legs around the other's body and spread them on the mattress. They were together, lying next to each other on the bed, in the room, their snorts looking for air along with the music that was still heard far away was the only thing heard. Although he would have liked to say something, Morty felt exhausted and didn't think he had the strength or the voice to pronounce a word. But a dark thought immediately invaded him, not letting him enjoy the remnants of his orgasm.

And now that? Maybe this was the only thing Rick needed from him, he was about to kick him out of his room and ...

"Morty, shut up" Rick interrupted him out of nowhere. Turning his head to the right where Rick was lying, he frowned and gave him an odd look. Rick also turned around with a bored look but a sly smile. "I know your stupid-stupid little brain is thinking nonsense. Don't think anything, just… feel" he said as he pulled him to his side and hugged him.

Lying down together, with nothing but those words, Morty decided that Rick was right. And this was something he had decided a while ago. That he would live it, no matter if in the end Rick lied or this, whatever it was, lasted an instant.

More comfortable, he reached out to hug him too, leaving behind any thoughts.

As Morty fell into a deep sleep, a buzzing sound from the foot of the bed called to Rick. Moving carefully, he grabbed his phone from his pants. It was a message from Squanchy.

Laughing lightly, he answered it. Then he dropped it somewhere on his nightstand and, pulling on his blankets, he hugged Morty again and covered them.

The cold was felt in the city.

~

"So? And now what?" Squanchy asked as he tucked his phone into his sweater.

Bird only gave him a glance and a shrug as he left the kitchen and ran into a girl with short brown hair, whom he lost in the sea of people who were still at the party.

Sometimes he was surprised at how good Bird was at reading people and how empathetic he could be. He wasn't very good at it, even though his friends mattered a lot to him. But now with Rick and Morty having fixed things (if the moans he heard when he went upstairs to check how his plan and Bird were doing, had meant anything ...) he hoped his small group would return to normal and leave the tensions that dragged for weeks .

Everything had been worth the effort.

Now, all that remained was to follow through on Rick's message, though… how urgent was it to end the party if it was barely midnight?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I appreciate your comments, they serve me well. PLEASE. Please let me know of any errors you encounter. And if your criticisms are destructive and specific, better for me, because that way you allow me to grow and improve myself.
> 
> Thank You~


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